Yup...Wake tower speaker question

[flyingnugget]

Alright now. Seems there are a few of us that are getting ready to do upgrades to the stereo systems. Well I have a few questions about brands. I know this is a touchy subject and everyone has their opinions and I wanna know them all but... I know WS and JL are prefered and obviously great speakers but they are out of my budget.

Does anyone have input or experience with other brands like Kicker, Fusion, ds18's and I even saw Big Air looked like they had a decent speaker.
Also, what would you recommend for a min RMS wattage for these? My kids are 13 and 15 and wanna listen while being towed either on tubes, wake boarding and surfing.

I have about a $2500 to $3000 budget for the whole stereo system and just can't justify blowing half on wake speakers. I just don't think I'll get the value of those with the way I use my boat.

Any input would be appreciated guys/gals...

 

[anmut]

Honestly, the quality on the WS and JL is just worth it. If you truly want clear sound 60-80' behind your boat while driving at mid/high RPMs (and remember how noisy these things are), bite the bullet, or you'll just be upgrading later. You could get by with some JL 6's or even 7.7s and an amp for 1/2 of your cost and install it yourself. Put the rest into an amp for your stock tubs and you've got yourself a decent system.

Also the word "budget" shall not be used with the word "boat." Write that down.

 

[Scott Huse]

I'd like to know as well, any input on Pioneer, DS18, and Fusion. I have the opportunity to add them to my store for a less expensive option for people that don't have a large budget (I know it's a boat) but I don't have personal experience and I don't want to add junk. We currently only carry products that I have experience with or have others that stand behind them and want to keep quality and customer satisfaction on top of our priorities.

 

[flyingnugget]

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Also the word "budget" shall not be used with the word "boat." Write that down.

LOL...You aint lyin brother... but it's been an ugly year for income and I'm even amazed the wife is the one pushing this...

I do appreciate the input...That was one of my concerns from the engine noise and being 50-60' behind the boat when tubing, hence the min RMS wattage question. But I get what your sayin..

 

[Crob83]

[


LOL...You aint lyin brother... but it's been an ugly year for income and I'm even amazed the wife is the one pushing this...

I do appreciate the input...That was one of my concerns from the engine noise and being 50-60' behind the boat when tubing, hence the min RMS wattage question. But I get what your sayin..

Kicker is a great "value" brand compared to JL and WS. But u definitely get what u pay for. I have all kicker speakers/subs/amp in my truck and for the price I love it. Also have kicker towers on the boat (only the 6.5s) with a 400W MTX amp, it's great and pretty damn loud for floating around and what not. U can hear it clear as day when your driving boat no chance in hell I could hear it while surfing or tubing or any of that. But I don't do any of that and it works great for my needs. And it only cost me $450 bucks for everything...lol

 

[spatty99]

I had a Kicker head unit and it was garbage. Have had several Fusion head units and Wet Sounds amp and speakers and extremely pleased with those.

 

[scokill]

I would settle on speakers then power. Listening while tubing will be barely possible with a pair of properly powered wetsounds. I’m am max undistorted volume with pair of rev10s and that really isn’t enough. You will need 2 pair. You can go budget and find out if it works.

 

[octavio3311]

I’m running 6 inboards, a 10” sub, 8” tower speakers and 2 Amos. I’ve been running WS everything except for the tower. Up there I chose to go with Rockford Fosgate 8” cans. They sound great. They can clearly be heard from surfing distances and can play center stage in the cove. They also came with rotating clamps, so I can face each speaker any direction I want.
They are definitely not JL or WS quality, but they suit my needs just fine.
This spring’s upgrade plan is to add the WS Bluetooth EQ. This is a definite, as I’ve already ordered it. And maybe 2 more speakers to the transom. I say maybe, cause there’s only so many times I can get away with “what - I didn’t do anything - they were always there”.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

The new Kicker stuff is coming for the high-end market. These days there are plenty of good options, realistically anything is going to sound decent. In this current climate, get what is available, in your budget, and make sure you have enough power for those speakers (aim for the top of the RMS ratings)

 

[ripler]

If you want to project sound back to someone tubing you will need to spend some money on a good HLCD speaker like Wetsounds REV series. I realize that it will take up half of your budget, but if you will be disappointed if you don't do the tower speakers right.
How much of your current stereo are you upgrading? If you choose components wisely your 3K can go a long way, but only if you are doing the install yourself. You don't need to buy high end JL or Wetsounds amps to have a nice sounding system. When I installed the stereo in my Yamaha I used 2 600W Rockford Fosgate Prime series amplifiers, mainly because they were a class D amp, I paid 250.00 each for them and each of them actually put out over 800W. I replaced all of my interiors with Rockford Fosgate 6.5" marine speakers they were125.00/pair and I added a Rockford Fosgate 10" infinite baffle sub for 250.00. So I essentially replaced all of my speakers, added a sub and tower speakers and added 2 amps for 2500.00. I changed the receiver to a Clarion M303 and changed the stern remote to a Clarion MW1 for about 330.00 which included the remote wire. I also added a Clarion equalizer so I had zone control along with subwoofer level control, the eq was 90.00. So I replaced everything in my boat for less than 3K. You will need a few hundred dollars for amp wire, speaker wire, fuse holders, etc, but as I said above if you choose your components wisely you can have a nice sounding stereo without breaking the bank.

 

[anmut]

I would settle on speakers then power. Listening while tubing will be barely possible with a pair of properly powered wetsounds. I’m am max undistorted volume with pair of rev10s and that really isn’t enough. You will need 2 pair. You can go budget and find out if it works.

LOL you should buy JL then - my two 8.8s can be heard not only by the kid on the wakeboard, but it's so loud that parents following in a second boat and recording their kid on their phone are upset because the music trumps them narrating on the video. We're talking hundreds of yards behind the boat.

 

[flyingnugget]

@ripler
Thanks bud...Yea, I'm going to try and do this by myself and/or with a buddies help. For the "budget" I'm going to try and replace most of the stock system. New Head unit, Fusion MS-RA670, all 6 stock speakers, with the option of 2 more for the cockpit, and tower speakers plus amp(s) to power it all. The Sub is a down the road option dpending on how this install and system sounds.
My group isnt the type to sit in a cove for hours blasting the music so I don't need to get crazy loud. Just functionality.

Gotta say this is a bit overwhelming with options...I'm just in the planning phase and trying to make sense of most of it. Really appreciate the input!

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

LOL you should buy JL then - my two 8.8s can be heard not only by the kid on the wakeboard, but it's so loud that parents following in a second boat and recording their kid on their phone are upset because the music trumps them narrating on the video. We're talking hundreds of yards behind the boat.

He must be joking because a pair of REV10s is stupid loud, is is noticeably louder than 8.8s, given both in an ideal set up.

 

[scokill]

He must be joking because a pair of REV10s is stupid loud, is is noticeably louder than 8.8s, given both in an ideal set up.

He must be joking because a pair of REV10s is stupid loud, is is noticeably louder than 8.8s, given both in an ideal set up.

Not joking at all. They are loud no doubt. For me a pair is bare minimum as I said.

 

[spatty99]

Agreed on the Wet Sounds Rev series being crazy loud. I had one pair of Rev8s and a SYN-DX amp, and you could hear them clearly 70 feet back while wakeboarding. There was still room to get louder but it was absolutely deafening inside the boat.

 

[anmut]

He must be joking because a pair of REV10s is stupid loud, is is noticeably louder than 8.8s, given both in an ideal set up.

I would hope so - maybe they're not tuned right or maybe his kids are like mine and spend more time talking than listening?